Speed read your way into an easy to use speed reading test. In just a few minutes, read and take a short comprehension quiz; discover your time and how you compare nationally. Next, discover how long it would take you to read War and Peace, Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone, Lord of the Rings, Catch 22, and 1984.This site includes advertising.

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Race to read, with Staples simple Speed reading test. Offer your students and parents an easy way to track reading fluency. Use this tool to open discussion about the reasons why we sometimes need to slow down and how practice can build fluency. Offer contests, use in portfolios, or just plain have fun reading! Begin by using on the interactive whiteboard and reading aloud and modeling good reading behaviors. Help students discover the skills of great comprehension. Have students graph the family results. Test your principal and other teachers. Use this website to prove reading takes practice. For another reading speed builder, try Easy Prompter, reviewed here.

Find printable sets of I Have/Who has language learning games for learning levels 1-6. Print each game in PDF format including playing cards and instructions. Be sure to check out other items under the free resources tab.This site includes advertising.

In the Classroom

Each set of games includes enough cards for the entire class to participate. Print cards on cardboard stock and laminate before using for increased durability. Challenge students to create their own I Have/Who Has games for any topic.

Grockit is a tool for hosting timely Q&A discussions around web videos, and it works with any YouTube or Vimeo hosted videos. You can create a Q&A page about a video that only you and the people you choose can access. You can moderate the conversation to get additional controls and deeper insight into what's happening. To begin, search for any YouTube or Vimeo video, or put in the URL of a video you want to use. Then, choose to make a public or private question and answer session. The video will appear framed on the page, and you just need to add a few questions to get things started. Type these into the field on the top left of your screen. If you play through the video and pause at certain moments, the question will appear at that point in the video. Share the video by clicking on 'Share this page." This will give you a URL that you can share with others. If you click on 'Moderate Q&A on this video' at the bottom of the page, you can create playlists, moderate submissions to the Q&A, and even get an embed code to add it to other materials.

Note that the general public can write and answer PUBLIC Q/A sessions, so preview for appropriateness before sharing with others. If you create a private Q/A you can avoid this problem.

In the Classroom

Begin by searching for pre-existing public videos that already have questions. Preview and share these with students as you begin a unit or for review. Create your own videos for students to use for review or have students generate questions for a video you choose. Assign videos for students to view at home, in the computer lab, or on laptops. You can even have students post their questions and responses within the video. Learning Support teachers could have students write questions and test each other using videos to reinforce topics they are studying without using loads of reading material.

Try this inference and prediction guessing game for the young. Press "show a clue" to receive clues for the mystery word. Guess the word or press the button again to get another clue. Fifteen child-friendly riddles are available, and the riddles have up to ten clues.This site includes advertising.

In the Classroom

Bookmark and save this site to use as a bell ringer or for a quick center activity. Display on your interactive white board and allow students to try to solve the riddles with as few clues as possible. Use these riddles as models for students to create their own riddles to share with classmates. Beginning raders will need help spelling their responses, so try partnering them with a stronger speller.

Explore this huge collection of Youtube videos on various aspects of teaching the English language to international students. Real teachers narrate the videos which include three levels and many subject areas. Included are the normal topics like speaking and pronunciation, grammar, writing, and vocabulary, as well as other helpful topics like test prep, tips, expressions, and slang. Most have a followup quiz to see how well you understand the lesson concepts. The videos are not particularly dynamic, mostly just views of a teacher standing and explaining. Topics include material appropriate for adult learners, such as pregnancy and having a baby. K-12 teachers will wan to select for their students.This site includes advertising.

In the Classroom

Use video from this collection to introduce a topic or to do a quick review. Students recently mainstreamed from ESL/ELL into the traditional English or language arts classroom or students who need information presented several times in different ways may benefit from a short video lesson. Have students view lessons then create their own grammar lesson video. Share the videos on a site such as TeacherTube reviewed here.

Drag words to create sentences, poems, and more on this easy to use, online "refrigerator." Need to use a word more than once? No problem -- just click on the word and press your "d" key to create a duplicate. Words can also be sorted by the color of the background for nouns, verbs, and other parts of speech. Many basic sight words are included.

In the Classroom

This site is terrific for use on interactive whiteboards. Challenge students to create entertaining sentences using as many different colored backgrounds as possible. Then ask them to identify the parts of speech. See how long it takes them to notice that all nouns are the same color! This is an excellent resource to share during Poetry Month. Why not make a poetry center on your interactive whiteboard for students to work with a partner? For create-your-own magnetic poetry at a higher level, try Triptico's free, downloadable software, reviewed here.

Use this challenging game for a review of the parts of speech. Choose from one of three levels. After examining a sentence, decide which part of speech the boldface word is. Click on that part of speech and the animated character, Chubs, will try to aim his bow and arrow at the target! Sometimes Chubs gets hit by a toilet plunger instead of having his arrow hit the target -- an amusing twist! Even at the beginning level, this site does a terrific job in distinguishing between minor categories like verbs/linking verbs or singular/plural nouns.

In the Classroom

Use this game on a projector to review parts of speech with your students or pair them up on classroom computers for extra practice. ESL/ELL and learning support students will enjoy and benefit from effective play.

Wunderlist is more than a to-do list. Use it as a project management tool to develop plans, store resources, and arrange group collaboration or planning. It works on all devices and in your browser on the web. Sync all of your devices with this one tool. Teachers, students, and parents can all use this tool to help improve organization. Assign, track, and follow your groups. Be sure to sync to the cloud to keep school, home, kids, and more together in one place. The free version has some limitations, so click Pro to see how much your free account can do.This site includes advertising.

In the Classroom

Use Wunderlist to stay on top of everything you do or even for communicating with parents. Students can use this resource as a way to stay organized in all tasks or to plan intermediate steps of a long-term project. Even disorganized students will love getting organized with the help of technology! Begin by demonstrating how to use Wunderlist on your interactive whiteboard (or projector) as a whole group activity. In primary grades, use this tool as a class to introduce and reinforce time management. Demonstrate how to use the program to stay on top of long-term assignments or projects. Be sure to include checking off the task when finished. Since membership requires an email account, you probably will not be able to use this with individual student accounts in lower grades. Older students with individual accounts (if permitted by school policy) can keep their school year organized by adding assignments and tasks, uploading work, taking/keeping notes, and sharing their board. As students work on and complete tasks, they can move items from one column to the next. Use Wunderlist as a collaboration tool during group projects to track responsibilities, resources, and progress. Have each group invite you as the teacher so you can monitor group progress and each student's participation. Use the program as a unique way to keep track of homework. Learning support teachers and teachers of gifted-but-disorganized students will want to include this as a tool to meet IEP organizational goals. Add reminders, due dates, reoccurring to dos, or notes to each task.

Use Pagefin as a quick and easy way to create web pages. Spend only seconds to add text, images, or links to create your own web pages. After creating, share via a URL link where you can edit the page later, a direct link for email and instant messaging, a shortened URL which is convenient for sharing on Twitter, or HTML embed code for your other websites. No need to login, just start immediately.

In the Classroom

Use Pagefin at school for individual or group projects. Create webpages to use for anticipatory guides, polls, or even study guides. Allow students to build a content review page to demonstrate mastery. The ease of use allows even novice technology users, as well as younger students, to create their own webpage (parent permission strongly advised!). You or your students can create beautiful presentations with images, text, and links. Each website created has a private URL. Students can use this tool at home for presentations and email you the URL for their completed work. Compile the presentation URLs on your class blog or wiki so all students have access. Integrate all subjects into Pagefin. The simplicity of this site would make it an easy tool for younger students to create eportfolios with links to and explanations of their various projects located elsewhere on the web.

Looking for a quick and easy way to share dynamic presentations? Try Projeqt! Which is a simple tool with onscreen, embedded instruction (i.e. drag here). Update previously created presentations by uploading images, documents, and PDF files, video, or create slides from scratch. See your Projeqt as a film strip or in grid view, and there's a full-screen option, too. Add a Google map, Flickr page, and more! Projeqt aims to establish itself above other presentation tools through the direct integration of social media dynamics, and that it certainly does! Here is a simple sample Projeqt made by a TeachersFirst reviewer.This site includes advertising.

In the Classroom

Use this presentation tool to have students express themselves creatively in your classroom. Have them share their projects with Projeqt as an alternative to a writing assignment or other traditional method. Set requirements for how much and what types of information they must have, and watch what they develop. They may just surprise you! Have students create an end of year portfolio to share during spring fairs or open houses. Save Projeqts for fall open house to share the work students will be doing! Students can present in person or link their presentations to a media site that has a recording of them giving a summary. Projeqts could also be used to showcase a long-term community service project or show off a season's accomplishments for a sports team.

Reading Rockets is a comprehensive guide for parents, teachers, librarians, principals, school counselors, speech therapists, school psychologists, preschool caregivers, summer care providers, and anyone interested in keeping kids reading! This site is an amazing resource to answer your reading needs. Updated continually, it keeps you informed with the latest research. New teachers, seasoned teacher, parents, principals, and anyone who works with students (reading) can benefit from the information included. Teachers will find: classroom strategies, how to help struggling readers, professional development webcasts, how to build strong parent teacher relationships, booklists, and how to use books in your curriculum. For principals, discover information on school level leadership, supporting teachers, closing the achievement gap, and working with parents. Find over 80 interviews with award winning authors, an author study tool kit, themed booklists, holiday gift guide, research-based articles, parent letters, launching young readers (series) on ipod, reading adventure packs, and other great tools. A librarian toolkit offers free video modules on finding the right book, becoming aware of print, reading as dialogue, and writers secrets. Many detailed articles discuss information about speech pathology, dyslexia, comprehension, motivation, phonics, writing, and spelling.This site includes advertising.

In the Classroom

Reading Rockets is a fantastic resource for teachers, librarians, parents, and principals. Be sure to sign up for the newsletter for the latest information, blogs, thoughts, and ideas for teaching reading. Use this website as a resource for your classroom, library, or even with you school action committees. Provide a link to this site on your class webpage. Install widgets for reading, and find the latest apps to support literacy. Join reading blogs, and add widgets to make your reading strategies complete. : If your district blocks YouTube, the videos may not be viewable. You could always view them at home and bring them to class "on a stick" to share. Use a tool such as Freemake Video Converter, reviewed here, to download the videos from YouTube.

Type a message and Lalo.li will read it aloud using a voice synthesizer. Adjust message quality using the word gap, speed, amplitude, and pitch icons. Just click on the circle and turn to change the quality. Copy and paste the URL to share your audio message or use links to share via social networking such as Facebook and Twitter. Here is a sample . At the time of this review, the site only worked using Firefox or Chrome.

In the Classroom

This would be great for ESL/ELL learners; have them type a short sentence and listen to the playback to verify that the sentence is correct. It would also be a great practice for beginning readers. Use your interactive whiteboard and have the class tell a very brief story or say a sentence. After typing the sentence into the program, user a pointer for each word as the synthesizer reads it, or have students take turns pointing out the words. Share tonight's homework on your class web page as a link to an audio reminder simply by typing or pasting in the assignment and copying the link to place it on your web page.

Procon presents controversial issues in a non-partisan manner. Find current issues with balanced information to promote critical thinking without bias. Categories include Education, Media & Entertainment, Sports, Science & Technology, among others. Issues can include Abortion, Euthanasia, Climate Change, Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, Health Care Reform, Obesity, and the Death Penalty, just to name a few. Read the information on each issue in a Pro and Con format along with background information, and included video clips. Some topics are controversial, so adults using this site with young people may want to go directly to a single issue rather than having them browse openly.

In the Classroom

Using controversial topics that have more than one side is a great way to develop critical thinking and problem solving. Find issues on this site that relate to your curriculum and use them as an entry point for a new unit. Use the teaching resources found under the Teacher's Corner. Use this site to teach how to distinguish facts from opinions, using information to write essays or create speeches, or hold a class debate. Help students develop flexibility in their thinking by having them argue a side they do NOT agree with. Focus on critical thinking with your students to develop skills needed for life. Use as a whole class activity or for individual students to find an issue of interest to them. Gifted students often think deeply on such issues at an early age and will find these topics of great interest. Use this site to guide a deliberate discussion or debate.

Comments

I also love this site, but I don't see any advertising on there at all. The site is free. Not sure how they stay afloat but I'm glad they do. For me, it is better than Opposing Viewpoints database for its depth, ease of use, and lack of registration/passwords. I use it for student debates on current events, and my wife (an English teacher) uses it for persuasive essays and role play debates., , Grades: 0 - 12

I've used this and it's great! Balanced, has good resources. Helps students see both sides of an issue.Frances, CT, Grades: 6 - 8

Math Game Time is a free website with math videos, worksheets, and games. Find topics listed by grade level (PreK - 7th grade) or concept. You can make your games public or private, allowing "outsiders" to play against you or inviting opponents you choose. Join the newsletter to keep up with the latest from this site. Apps for this site are available for purchase on tablets, but the web games are free. They require Flash, so web versions will not work on iOS devices using Safari.This site includes advertising.

In the Classroom

Introduce the site to students on your interactive whiteboard or projector. Allow students to explore the site on their own or with a partner. Create a link on classroom computers for students to practice during free time. Share the link on your classroom blog or website for students to practice at home. Use the site as a resource to supplement Math topics being taught in class. Share the site with parents at Open House or Math Nights at school.

The Successful Web Reader is an interesting guide loaded with links for anyone who would like to improve and speed up their Web page reading. Just as with print, we read on the Web for a variety of reasons. Whether it is to surf and browse for information, or to interact with people and texts around the world, the criteria for success is dependent upon skills and strategies that experienced online readers use as an approach to reading digital/electronic text. Find out how to take advantage of the functionality of your browser and make the most out of your visits to the Web with the helpful suggestions you will find on this site.

In the Classroom

Reading is a cross curricular activity. Every teacher, not only English, language arts, and reading teachers, should teach or review these strategies with students before asking them to find information and read on the Web. The Successful Web Reader provides teacher and student-friendly, practical tips and information to aid "critical linking" and path following, effective scanning, avoiding distractions, and how to get the most out of a quick visit. Bookmark this website in your favorites. Choose from the many links of helpful information to project on your whiteboard at opportune times.

Here you will find a plethora of ideas for students to report about the books they've read. Watch your students' appetite for reading soar with this collection of creative book report ideas, complete with instructions. From edible book reports to video projects, there is something to spark everyone's interest and keep them engaged.This site includes advertising.

In the Classroom

The variety of ideas will keep readers thinking in new ways about what they read. How about having them create a quiz to go along with their class novel to demonstrate what they have learned? TeachersFirst can make that easy for you with Easy Test Maker reviewed here. Perhaps your students fancy transforming parts of their book into online comic strips. TeachersFirst has that covered for you too with Make Beliefs Comics reviewed here.

The Legacy Project is a big picture learning project for adults, youth, and children. There are three categories to the program where you develop your legacy: personal, interpersonal, and community. Explore your connection with others in your life and create closer relationships between generations. Find out how you can help make a better world by addressing issues like building stronger communities and caring for the environment. The Legacy Project was inspired by the award-winning bestseller, Dream, and is a content rich site that explores all aspects of the hopes and dreams we have for ourselves and our world. You can identify and reach for your goals to make a difference in your own life and our world.This site includes advertising.

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The Legacy Project's free online activities for all ages include creative crafts, art projects, games, self-assessments, reproducible pages, and even lesson ideas with curriculum connections for teachers. There are also free guides, tips, and feature articles. Resources can be used individually or grouped to create a themed set that run the gammit from literacy to family, history, or science. There are even free online certificates you can download!

Challenge your students to think about questions like: What are your goals and what would you like to be, do, and learn? How can you achieve your goals? What can you learn about your own hopes and dreams and those of others? How can you think globally and act locally? How can we better understand other people and cultures that live in our communities or a whole continent away from us? The Legacy Project combines practical, classroom-tested ideas and research-based insights with a little fun and inspiration to inform and inspire all ages - children, teens, and adults. Using resources like the Dream book, students explore the world around them and their role in it - past, present, and future.

The Legacy Project's annual Listen to a Life Essay Contest brings generations in family and community closer and promotes the importance and uniqueness of inter-generational relationships. Students between the ages of 8-18 years interview a grandparent or "grand-friend" about their life and write an essay. This also opens the door for so many creative projects such as photo essays, (using their own digital images or finding ones that are legally permitted to be reproduced). Have students create an annotated image including text boxes and related links using a tool such as Thinglink, reviewed here.

Try this idea generator, called "learning events," to spark projects to show in-depth understanding. To give you an idea for what to expect, here are two examples: "do what the Magna Carta meant in a series of 5 photographs," or "do metamorphosis as a blues song." There are 2,500 of these ideas, and you will have to scroll through them until you find the one you like. All the learning events use the highest level of Bloom's Taxonomy, synthesis (now called "creating"). This page is just the beginning! You will also find idea generators for geography and homework! Build creative flexibility and orginality with these prompts.

In the Classroom

Set up Newtools on a classroom computer. Make this one of several writing prompt options for blogs or other open-ended assignments. Allow students who finish work early or who need a journal idea to scroll through and try to find an idea that you have studied in class. Write several of these on your interactive whiteboard and then have students choose which one they would like to work on. Once all the projects are complete, rotate the students around the room to share with classmates who worked on a different project. Use this site to challenge gifted students to produce a higher level project. Some of the projects suggest using video or another presentation format. Be sure to check TeachersFirst Edge Presentation tools here to find one that is just right.

Create a live Internet radio show -- free -- with Spreaker! This super easy online tool creates podcasts instantly for you to share with your own URL, on Facebook, Google +, Soundcloud, Twitter, or add to the Spreaker website. Follow others, or invite others to follow your podcasts. With a click of a button you are creating a live podcast. To create a podcast you do not need Flash. However, there are several tutorials, and these tutorials require flash. There is a free version and a more deluxe premium version. This review is for the free version.This site includes advertising.

In the Classroom

Enjoy a live radio show from your classroom! Publish written pieces of writing, science reports, social studies reports, and any other reports you would like to share. Create a New Book or Book Review podcast for the media center. Link to your podcast URL on your class website. Publish directions to projects, explanations for difficult concepts, or even a radio show of you reading your favorite books for your students. Have upper elementary students take turns reading aloud for a podcast aimed at little reading buddies in kindergarten. Allow students to podcast to "pen pals" in faraway places. Record your school choir, orchestra group, poetry club, or drama club doing their best work or dramatic readings of Shakespeare soliloquies. Take your school newspaper to a new level with recorded radio articles. Be sure to include interviews with students, teachers, principals, parents, authors, artists, and almost anyone. In younger grades, use to save an audio portfolio of reading fluency, expression, or to aid with running records or even include writing. Be sure do this regularly throughout the year to analyze growth. Have fun at Halloween with your Halloween station filled with favorite spooky stories! Welcome your students to a new school year by sending them your message. Create messages for classmates who move away. Bring your foreign language classes an extra resource of your pronunciations whenever they need more practice. ESL/ELL, special education classes can often benefit from the extra explanations, practice, and elaborated instructions given at their own pace. The possibilities are endless! The site itself is a "web 2.0," social networking style site, so some schools may have it blocked. Ask about unblocking just YOUR teacher account so you can have students access it while at school and under your supervision.

Enjoy a cartoon and an opportunity to guess what idiom it represents. Click on one of five buttons for more information including a hint, the answer, the definition, a note on usage, the origin of the idiom, and a sentence using the idiom. The site is in blog format, so for more examples and activities with idioms, viewers just scroll down to see more. There is also a game featuring multiple choice guesses to reinforce usage of the idiom. New idioms are added regularly. SInce this is a blog, there are comments and other social features, such as clicking to "Like" a post. Public interactions appear in comments, so monitor before projecting or sharing.

In the Classroom

Have your students make their own cartoons of idioms they encounter following the example of the idioms drawn here. They can draw and scan them in or use one of the reviewed comics tools here. Have students post their work to a wiki or to Class Blog, reviewed here. Students studying other languages can create similar pages using idiomatic expressions of their target language. This is a great link to include on class web page. The explanations of the origin of the idiom might be a bit difficult for ESL/ELL students to grasp.